The first question out of Asma Mirza's mouth when she makes a new acquaintance these days is, "Are you single?" If she gets a yes, the 27-year-old CEO quickly follows up with a request to swab the inside of her new friend's cheek, in hopes it will help them find true love.

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2010 file photo, Ricardo Sandoval places packages in the right shipping boxes at an Amazon.com fulfillment center, in Phoenix. Many of the gifts purchased online in the holiday season end up getting returned, causing headaches for brick-and-mortar retailers who accept them.

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2010 file photo, Ricardo Sandoval places...

From the New York Times:

Kristina Nicolas will proudly tell you that she's been doing practically all her shopping online for years now. She will also tell you, in a more exasperated voice, that this has not remotely abbreviated the amount of time she spends going to stores.

"It has become a huge errand and a huge part of my life having to get all this stuff back to where it came from," said Nicolas, a stay-at-home mother and former fashion buyer. She receives about 10 to 15 boxes per week of merchandise at her home in Chicago, and returns (or tries to return) about 30 percent. READ MORE.

My Internet Mea Culpa (NewCo Shift) - There was a time when we thought the internet would be an intellectual utopia. Author Rick Webb apologizes that it didn't turn out that way.